Yep – two huge turning points in this next-to-last episode here … and while it was expected that one of them was centered around Megu-nee (as she is now physically) the other was also centered around her, but came about in an (for me) unexpected way. It was great to see both Miki and Yuki sorta “step up to the plate” here – and although each did it in quite different ways both actions required some bravery on their part, and bravery fueled by a simple thing: their love of their friends.

Miki’s bravery involved going out to physically face the zombies in her efforts to make her way down to the secret basement where she discovered a mention of some kind of medicine for those who had been infected with the biochemical weapon (and thus zombified). Her journey down to the secret basement was so fitting in so many ways: armed with Kurumi’s shovel and equipped with an array of distraction devices the latter used, she was in a sense “taking up” the work of Kurumi to save Kurumi here. She also sallied forth with Kei’s cd player/radio and used it to distract a horde of zombies while she made her way to her destination. Here she was able to do exactly what Kei had the courage to do, although without Kei’s foolhardiness or lack of “support”.

The culmination of Miki’s trek down to the “basement” to (in an ironic and really well written way, I thought) face off against the zombified Megu-nee, who has become something of a sort of “area boss” and “guardian of the treasure room”. This is something only Miki can do, as she does not have the same emotional attachment that the other girls have with her, and which in a practical sense is what makes Megu-nee so dangerous to them – as evinced in the example of Kurumi getting bit last episode. Miki’s “bidding farewell” to Megu-nee and then literally putting her out of her misery turned out to be a very effective and touching scene. After this Miki was able to make her way down to the storage room and find the medicine – yay!

While all this was going on there were plenty of other things going on as well – the zombies had knocked down one of the chair/desk barriers and were wandering through some of the areas where the girls had dwelt. Yuri finds herself in quite a difficult situation … she has to lock the door to the zombies outside, yes, but she remains inside with the suffering Kurumi who is still handcuffed to the sofa and is in the slow process of the agonizing pain of becoming zombified. She remembers her promise to Kurumi to kill her should she ever get bit, and is experiencing terrible emotional turmoil, especially with the dim possibility of Miki returning with the medicine in time. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

However, the most relieving development and act of bravery involved Yuki. She apparently was able to make the beginning steps in coming to terms with the horrible reality she finds herself in and the fact that Megu-nee is dead. It looks like she may be heading in the direction to go and “save the day” via the broadcasting room! I would not be surprised if it involved being able to distract the zombies en masse with sound. And in one of the more unexpected twists, presumably after Miki finally kills the zombified Megu-nee her spirit comes and consoles (and even guides! O_o) the terrified Yuki over to the Broadcasting room and helps Yuki come to some kind of initial steps of closure … and everything ends on a cliffhanger as Yuki makes a face all shot through with a resolution and strength we have not seen hitherto! Maaaaan … next week’s episode cannot come too soon as far as I am concerned.

Thus far I have enjoyed the series as an adaptation, and have thought that it has done a good job as a way to bring people into the franchise (and the source material) as a whole. Recent stats have shown that the manga, in fact, has received a good boost in sales, so it seems to be doing a good job. Let’s see how effectively the series is wrapped up next week. See you then! ^^